timtim Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I have small hands and usually have a thick wrist to hold onto! The main issue is thumb strength as that is the weakness that we attack to free the grip. I have started using a thick bar for dumbell rows and doing some plate pinching. Does anyone have any other ideas? I have thought about the rolling thunder as it may help mimic the action of someone rolling their arm away from me. I don't want to invest in one if using thick bar and plate pinching will be just as effective. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digdogz Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Here's my two cents: If money wern't a thing = Titan Telegraph Key... The reason = Its thumb specific to the highest order! Other wise try 'Block Weight tossing' from hand to hand... This will develop your dynamic 'snatching' strength. Look into older threads about martial arts training here using the search facility...I'm sure this will help. Digz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Cenidoza Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Anything involving a 2" diameter bar [or larger] is good. If you can load your DB unevenly and do leverage work (pronation/supination) that would help. A wrist roller might be a good investment as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 My 2cents. Aikido is not about hand strength, it is about using the momentum of your opponent(s) against them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digdogz Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 (edited) 'My 2cents. Aikido is not about hand strength, it is about using the momentum of your opponent(s) against them.' My 4 cents: ALL martial arts will contain an element of hand strength. Aikido or not. Even Tai Chi, slow movements non-attack (the ultimate kung Fu some say) practises isometric hand strength as part certain routines. Digz. Edited February 10, 2005 by Digdogz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Parker Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 My 2cents. Aikido is not about hand strength, it is about using the momentum of your opponent(s) against them. ← Yes, but if you do not have the hand strength to grab them in the first place, you can never get a chance to use their momentum. When I took aikido, I noticed that all the guys that had been doing it for a while had thick thick!! wrists. My instructor had some of the thickest wrists I have ever had to hold on to, it was like trying to hold onto my 2and5/8" thick bar. I have 7and15/16" hands, and I could hardly hold onto him. You definatly need a good base of strength. I asked him if he uses any techniques for better hand strength and he said no. I found that thick bar work was one of the best, but I do think that the rolling thunder would do a great job of someone trying to perfom a wrist break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Lane Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Wrist roller would be best option here. Living in woodstock has some benifits. We have some of the BEST americans up here for akido. Doug Pond and Harvy C. of Woodstock.. both are 5th or 6th Don and are the highest ranked americans. I took akido and having strong wrists yet flexable and a good grip will help tons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king crusher Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 the only thing i know about aikido is that harry crumb is a black belt....with the boots to match! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonL Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 get a clubbell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I don't dispute that you need some kind of hand strength but I think a healthy person has some sort of hand strength, and just training alone will be sufficient. However, if you want to push the training more power to you. But I strongly believe when Aikido it's all about the motion and the position of everything: body, hands, arm, etc. I trained in martial arts for 15 years, and gave a few tries to Aikido but found that after 15 years of doing it, to start from the beginning was not something I was interested in. Plus at the this age, I can't see putting my body through what they do: diving in the air and doing rolls, doing take downs and landing hard. I know you get used to it, but there comes to a point where enough is enough. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zevich Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 (edited) I have dumbbells and farmer's handles wrapped with a very dense thick rubber which makes the handles 2 1/2". When gripping them hard it feels very close to a human wrist. This has helped my gripping both wrist and gi's in Judo which I have spent 34 years in. Try static holds for 10 to 20 seconds with a thick bar and then hammer curls with the same handles.. 5 to 6 sets twice a week will help. Edited February 11, 2005 by Zevich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagual Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 get a clubbell. ← To beat the other guy in the head with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timtim Posted February 11, 2005 Author Share Posted February 11, 2005 Thanks for all your replies. Iman is of course right that Aikido is about movement not strength, but when we are working on fast attacks with multiple oponents, my grip is broken too early and I'd like to hold on to them a little longer! It also makes my opponent use better technique to break my hold. It sounds like a mixture of thick bar, thick wrist rolling, sledge levering for now, and then I'll look at the rolling thunder. Does anyone in the uk know of any good (cheap) suppliers for the RT (or good alternative)? Now all I need to do is pack a load of size onto my skinny wrists to make it harder for them to latch onto me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tspinillo Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Thanks for all your replies. Iman is of course right that Aikido is about movement not strength, but when we are working on fast attacks with multiple oponents, my grip is broken too early and I'd like to hold on to them a little longer! It also makes my opponent use better technique to break my hold. It sounds like a mixture of thick bar, thick wrist rolling, sledge levering for now, and then I'll look at the rolling thunder. Does anyone in the uk know of any good (cheap) suppliers for the RT (or good alternative)?Now all I need to do is pack a load of size onto my skinny wrists to make it harder for them to latch onto me.... ← The Big Squeeze dumbbell handles from Sorinex may prove to be a good tool. https://secure.directus.net/sorinex/viewitem.asp?id=30 T! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Cenidoza Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 I think experienced Aikido practitioners have large sinewy wrists from having their fingers extended all the time. If you grab your own wrist, you'll notice that as you open and close your hand, the wrist seems to get larger as your hand opens. This would lead me to believe that exercises involving finger extention would thicken the wrist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revtor Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I second the blob hand to hand tosses.. explosive very dynamic wrist, thumb and crush, all in one. think about trying to quickly grab a wrist coming at you, its like doing a blob toss, youre using all of your everything and attacking the steel, trying to attach onto it.. also, dont let an abnormal amount of grip strength throw off your training.. if you can hold onto something for longer than usual it may leave holes in other areas of your training.. ~Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdoire Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 It is all about speed of technique....in Aikido and some other martial arts...there is not enough time during a properly executed techniques that "crushing" power is a factor. Speed is power...simple but true! Aikido is more about the deflection of the opponents power and less about "over" powering....speed...speed...speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAXIMUM MIKE Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 The whole premise of akido is to control your opponents wrist thereby controlling the movement of the rest of his body, and only the light application of the thumb on the back of your opponents hand is needed to control the wrist, any use of force to control the wrist will cause an immediate knee jerk reaction of your opponent to pull his hand away. That's why almost all akido techniques requires for you to bring your opponents hand to your center or chi, where in your using your whole body to apply force to your oppenents wrist, so I don't know where you need to develop hand strength, unless you are doing a different kind of akido then I know about. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timtim Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 The whole premise of akido is to control your opponents wrist thereby controlling the movement of the rest of his body, and only the light application of the thumb on the back of your opponents hand is needed to control the wrist, any use of force to control the wrist will cause an immediate knee jerk reaction of your opponent to pull his hand away. That's why almost all akido techniques requires for you to bring your opponents hand to your center or chi, where in your using your whole body to apply force to your oppenents wrist, so I don't know where you need to develop hand strength, unless you are doing a different kind of akido then I know about. Mike ← As far as I know, I'm doing the kind of Aikido that you all know about - the reason for me asking about the handstrength was for when I'm the person attacking (uke?). Of course my perception of my weak hands could just be because of the strong technique of the people I practice with. Thanks for all your replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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